Emergency guidelines from IMO

The IMO issued a circular forwarding guidelines on the control of ships in an emergency.

The purpose of the guidelines is to provide member governments, ship masters, companies, salvors, and others engaged in a maritime emergency with a framework of authority within which to they may be expected to operate. The guidelines recognize the obligation of the master to protect the lives of the persons on board the ship and the authority of the coastal state to take measures to protect its coastline and related interests. It encourages all parties to communicate with each other so as to minimize misunderstandings.

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Adyard buoyed by AED 130mln fabrication deal

Topaz Energy and Marine Ltd. has announced that its Abu Dhabi-based oil & gas subsidiary Adyard LLC has been awarded an AED 130 million contract by Swiss-based Single Buoy Moorings Inc. (SBM)

The contract is for the fabrication of a Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU) for Talisman Energy, one of Canada’s largest petroleum companies. The MOPU is to be located on the YME Field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The contract entails the fabrication and load out of the hull, topsides and related works. The process equipment will be fabricated in modules and installed on the hull at the Adyard jetty in Abu Dhabi. The work will be executed at Adyard’s 140,000 sqm water front facilities located in the Mussafah industrial area of Abu Dhabi over the next 18 months. SBM is a market leader in the conversion and operation of Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSO’s) worldwide and this award marks the fourth contract SBM has awarded to Adyard over the last 12 months.

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Army warns of Iraq dam catastrophe

The largest dam in Iraq is in danger of an imminent collapse that could unleash a huge wave of water, possibly drowning 500,000 people, new assessments by the US Army Corps of Engineers show.

A collapse would put Mosul under 20 metres of water and parts of Baghdad under 4.5 metres, according to Abdulkhalik Thanoon Ayoub, the dam manager. Even in a country gripped by daily bloodshed, the possibility of a catastrophic failure of the Mosul dam had alarmed US officials. At the same time, a US reconstruction project to help shore up the dam in northern Iraq has been marred by incompetence and mismanagement, according to Iraqi officials. The reconstruction project, worth at least $US27 million, was not intended to be a permanent solution to the dam’s deficiencies. Sitting in a picturesque valley 70 kilometres along the Tigris River north of Mosul, the earthen dam has one fundamental problem – it was built on top of gypsum, which dissolves when it comes into contact with water.

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